Why is Our Lady of Guadalupe so Important?

We often talk about our goals to create unity and end division.

We also believe the Catholic Church is universal and that all people are "Children of God".

However, before Our Lady of Guadalupe appeared to Saint Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin on Tepeyac Hill, December 9, 1531, the Indigenous of the Americas were not converting as rapidly nor were their ethnicity, culture, or language seen as compatible with Christianity in many sectors. 

Of course, these debates will continue indefinitely, but Our Lady of Guadalupe dispelled many narratives surrounding the Indigenous communities of the Americas as well as provided an impetus for them to join our holy Church, with Amerindian decedents making up around 30% of our Faithful community today. 

To understand why, we must look at some key facts surrounding this historic Apparition. 

First is the most obvious, the visionary. Saint Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin was an indigenous Chichimeca, a largely semi-nomadic people often equated to the Barbarians by the Aztec Empire and even the Spanish. It would have been significant had Saint Juan Diego been a Mexica Aztec from the capital of Tenochtitlan found into today's center of Mexico City. But, the fact that he was from the outskirts of what would become the furthest stretches of Mexico City and was of an even "lower" Indigenous heritage showed to all people in the Spanish Empire that the Virgin Mary and God works through all people.

The First Apparition came on the December 9th date and this is when Mother Mary appeared to Saint Juan Diego, singing most beautifully and calling out to the humble and righteous man by name. Saint Juan Diego and his wife had converted after the Spanish took over via the Franciscans, and as such, Saint Juan Diego was walking to church past the Tepeyac Hill, with many accounts suggesting he was going to attend Catechism class. Mother Mary invoked many messages, including ones that described Saint Juan Diego as her son, that messaged her love for all the people there and in the world, but most importantly, her desire to have a place of worship erected at the site of the Apparition. For this cause, Saint Juan Diego was supposed to persuade the bishop to concede to building a house of worship here.

Therefore, Saint Juan Diego went to Bishop Don Juan de Zumárraga y Arrazola that day to tell him of what the Virgin Mary had asked for. Saint Juan Diego was made to wait and when he finally got the chance to meet with Bishop Zumárraga, the bishop was unconvinced making Saint Juan Diego feel dejected and sad. Saint Juan Diego went back to Tepeyac Hill where Our Lady of Guadalupe made her Second Apparition and encouraged Saint Juan Diego to go back and ask once again. It is in this Second Apparition that displays two key qualities: the humbleness and faithfulness of Saint Juan Diego and the importance of perseverance. The Virgin Mary chose Saint Juan Diego because he was a peasant, a lowly indigenous Mexican who had little social standing. She wanted to show the world that he and many others were God's people as well, that they could possess great wisdom and achieve the greatest honors. Saint Juan Diego showed his faith too, because he did not seek fame rather he sought completion of the task, and even stated "I am a nobody, I am a small rope, a tiny ladder, the tail end, a leaf" to persuade the Virgin Mary to find someone more worthy of such a challenge. But, the Virgin Mary encouraged perseverance showing that in our Faith, we must always seek to do what is right no matter how challenging. 

The Third Apparition came on December 10, 1531. Having gone to mass early, Saint Juan Diego rushed to the bishop's office once again. After finally receiving an audience, Saint Juan Diego was placed through an interrogation to establish any veracity to his claims. Saint Juan Diego felt saddened as the bishop still did not believe him, but gave him a challenge of proving the Virgin Mary was appearing through a sign. The bishop also ordered people to follow Saint Juan Diego who got lost along the way and would spread lies about him after. That day, Saint Juan Diego received a short message from Mary that asked for him to return the next day for the sign that he would bring to the bishop.

The next day, Saint Juan Diego tried to avoid the Virgin Mary, but only because his uncle, Juan Bernardino, was sick. He needed to find a priest to administer Last Rites, but along his path, the Virgin Mary appeared for the Fourth Apparition. Saint Juan Diego pleaded for patience and explained the situation. The Virgin Mary understood and replied with this: "Let not your heart be disturbed. Do not fear that sickness, nor any other sickness or anguish. Am I not here, who is your Mother? Are you not under my protection? Am I not your health? Are you not happily within my fold? What else do you wish? Do not grieve nor be disturbed by anything. Do not be afflicted by the illness of your uncle, who will not die now of it. be assured that he is now cured." She then commanded Saint Juan Diego to go to where they have been meeting on Tepeyac Hill where he was to pick up roses to cut and put into his tilmàtli (tilma), a cloak or cape popular among the Indigenous. Now, this was during a period of time and in a place where this should have not been possible. In fact, no roses should have been present and especially not the type he found: Castilian roses. These were not native to Mexico, but rather to Spain. Nevertheless, Saint Juan Diego did as she commanded and told him to open his tilma once he got to the bishop. 

When Saint Juan Diego entered the offices of the bishop, he was again forced to wait. The servants wanted to deny him entry so Saint Juan Diego showed them some of the roses. The servants attempted to steal these roses, but when they tried, the roses would disappear. Therefore, Saint Juan Diego was brought to the bishop and once the situation was explained, Bishop Zumárraga asked to see the roses. When Saint Juan Diego opened his tilma, the bishop and his servants almost immediately began bowing as if to Saint Juan Diego, leaving him surprised. However, when Saint Juan Diego looked down, he noticed why. An Image of the Virgin Mary appeared on his tilma. Bishop Zumárraga then apologized to the Virgin Mary for his lack of haste and to Saint Juan Diego for not trusting in the message, taking the tilma to place in his private chapel and later the cathedral. He then had Saint Juan Diego stay the night until the next day when Saint Juan Diego would lead the bishop and others to the site where the house of worship to Mary would be built. 

The next day, Saint Juan Diego led the bishop and many of his servants out to Tepeyac Hill where the new house of worship was to be built. Afterwards, Saint Juan Diego went to visit his uncle, Juan Bernardino. The others and the bishop came as well. It is here that Juan Bernardino announced the Fifth Apparition, which is that Our Lady appeared to Juan Bernardino, even telling him who she was and confirmed Saint Juan Diego's stories. In addition, Juan Bernardino was now cured and looked healthy. 

Saint Juan Diego and Juan Bernardino were brought back to the bishops place until the shrine was completed. This original chapel was built right where the original Apparitions took place on Tepeyac Hill, and the original Image of Our Lady of Guadalupe on the tilma was transferred to this chapel. During the opening of it, many natives had come, but one was struck with an arrow due to an unrelated accident. This native was brought to the Image where after prayers, he was healed. 

Following Saint Juan Diego's death in 1548, many stories including the Codex Escalada in Castilian Spanish and the Nican Mopohua in Nahuatl as spoken in the Aztec Empire were published popularizing the "cult" of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

The mid-1500s and 1600s saw an explosion of the cult across the Americas and the wider world including the Philippines and other Spanish Pacific areas. In 1695, construction started on what would become a larger chapel, the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe. However, it had to go through many architectural and administrative changes and by 1904, it finally earned the title of a minor basilica. 

Today, the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe is the most visited Catholic shrine in the world. But, more importantly is the legacy of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

When Our Lady of Guadeloupe spoke to Saint Juan Diego, she spoke in the Indigenous Nahuatl using the version that was the first language or lingua franca of the Aztec Empire. This reality, plus the background of Saint Juan Diego, created the impetus for over 9 million Indigenous Mexicans converting to the Catholic Church within seven years of the Apparitions. Many state that Our Lady of Guadalupe started the wide scale acceptance of the new "race", Hispanics, as the genetic mixing and cultural mixing of the Europeans and Americans became more accepeted. No longer were Indigenous ways of expression either through language, culture, or even genetics automatically unholy, rather they were plenty good enough for the Virgin Mary. Religious substitution and accommodation became more practiced whereby Indigenous traditions could become Catholic too like Day of the Dead. This is one of the key reasons that Our Lady of Guadalupe is honored throughout the Americas because she gives its people credibility, a basis, a representation. In many ways, the Image of Our Lady of Guadalupe represents the birth of the new Americas, of the new people that would call it home. She is even considered the Empress of the Americas among many other titles with her Feast Day celebrated on December 12th. And, beginning on December 8th with the Feast of the Immaculate Conception and December 9th with Saint Juan Diego's Feast Day, many have turned the celebration of Our Lady of Guadalupe into a four to five day festival.

Of course the numbers are even more impressive considering that Our Lady of Guadalupe became a defining factor for the conversions of Brazil, Mexico, the Philippines, and the USA, the four largest Catholic nations today. 

Saint Juan Diego would become a religious hermit after the event as his wife had died many years prior to the Apparitions, but his legacy continues to the present-day. In fact, despite his immense role in bringing the two most Catholic continents to Catholicism, his canonization did not occur until 2002 by Saint Pope John Paul II. 

Perhaps, the most stunning legacy of Our Lady of Guadalupe is in the pure marvel of the Image on the tilma. Scientists have become in awe due to the unique nature of the tilma. For one, the Image has not faded and has been shown to be anything but manmade according to all evidence. The Image appears to be part of the tilma and the eyes have the reflection of Saint Juan Diego in them. And there are so many more interesting details such that the Image creates a musical pattern that can be listened to. And, the Image has survived acid attacks and even a bombing in 1921. 

There are so many more interesting stories that you can read about online and in the links provided and through these you can see why Our Lady of Guadalupe has become so important for our Faith.

It may only be an opinion to state that the Apparitions of Our Lady of Guadalupe is the most important event to happen since the 1500s but it would definitely be a well-supported opinion. We really can thank our Holy Mother for the Americas, Oceania, and the Philippines for being largely Christian today.